Way to go: Google poised to land mapping app

The social nature of Waze may also appeal to Google as it has struggled to develop a successful social networking tool

Nic Fildes

Tuesday June 11 2013, 1.00am, The Times

A highly sought after mapping technology company is set to be swallowed by Google in a deal that could be worth up to $1.3 billion.

Waze relies on its users to enter information about traffic conditions on their mobiles.

Its app, which has 47 million users, then alerts drivers to avoid roads where crashes have happened or roadworks are blocking lanes based on what other users have entered. It also shows the location of other drivers and can be used to flag up offers from roadside stores.

Waze has been the subject of fevered speculation in recent months with Google, Facebook and Apple all linked with a takeover. Facebook was reportedly close to a $1 billion deal this year but, according to reports at the